Hello again all,
I have to say, I now know that I have chosen the right place to post my inquiry! Your suggestions will provide me with a fair few nights of surfing the web to check out all of the fine timepieces!!
I was already considering Omega, JLC, and Rolex so I am glad that these names have come up again from independent sources.
I must apologize for my original post referencing chronometers...don't know why I typed that instead of chronographs...brain not engaged apparently.
A special note to pplater: Thanks for your vote of confidence that the 'spend is in good hands'. I don't know that my wife would agree with you on that count. I have been officially banned from unsupervised visitations to car dealerships...I bought a Porsche once without talking to her about it first...decidedly not good!
Also a question: Should I post followup questions about specific watches on the brand-specific forums or as a followup to this thread?
Thanks to all who have provided input so far...keep the suggestions coming!